Horrified by the state of the union, he is an angry protester. But he is also optimistic

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Horrified by the state of the union, he is an angry protester. But he is also optimistic

I know many people who suffer from a chronic illness that gets worse every time there is news from Washington. Supporters of the current president of the United States may refer to this situation as a side effect of Trump derangement syndrome, but it is more like Trump fatigue syndrome.

Symptoms may include a desire to tune out the spell, put your head in a bucket of ice, or find another way to calm the nerves.

But some brave souls, instead of looking away, enter the fray.

For example, Bert Voorhees.

I came across his name while reading news of Monday evening’s protest at City Hall in downtown LA, where protesters blasphemed about the bombing of Iran – the latest example of Trump pretending to be the king of the world and answerable to no one, including Congress, the courts or the American people.

On the steps of LA City Hall, people attended the March 2 Answer Coalition rally protesting the attack on Iran by the US and Israel.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

With missiles flying, civilians dying and chaos spreading, Voorhees told USA Today that the Iranian ayatollah’s violence against his own people did not justify the US military attack. In Voorhees’ mind, it is American democracy that is under attack.

“If people don’t stand up and talk about this, we’re all together right now, we won’t have a country,” said the San Fernando Valley resident in the northeast. “So, it’s time for people to get serious and take to the streets.”

I called Voorhees, a retired lawyer and teacher, and we had a long conversation that continued the next day over lunch in Montrose. We are both in our 70s, and we are both having trouble reconciling the world we live in with the vision we had of it as young men. Who would have expected years of bullying and name-calling, sickening lies about a “stolen” election or a trail of congressional and legislative opposition?

I admitted to Voorhees that I had misunderstood how this country was going backwards when the first black president in history spoke in 2016. I would bet that as a diverse and tolerant population comes of voting age, the old divisions will slowly fade into history and the US will continue to push for greater heights.

Silly me.

Voorhees says he has demonstrated hundreds of times

Perhaps it was the wishful thinking of a parent who wants his children to live in a more advanced world than one filled with Neanderthal ideas about science, medicine, climate, and non-white settlers.

For Voorhees, these are reasons to raise hell rather than lose faith, and he’s not alone. I There are no gatherings of Kings the big ones in LA were big. Home Depot is testing people they have looked at neighbors who are working hard because “peace is violence.” I brigades they protect their communities.

Denise Giardina, a Huntington Beach bookseller and friend of Voorhees, has been checking out Home Depot in her community and said organizing various political actions is a full-time job.

“I have daughters and I wanted them to have more rights than me, and I’m not sure that’s going to happen,” Giardina said.

When Giardina needs a break, she goes for a walk, a reminder that one protest doesn’t change the world, but small steps matter.

“Sometimes you can’t think about the end,” he said. “One foot is in front of the other, it is not the government that will save us, it will be the people.”

A crowd gathers at Los Angeles City Hall to protest the United States and Israel bombing Iran

Roseanne Constantino, a Silver Lake graphic designer whose activism includes knocking on doors during election cycles, mailing postcards and making phone calls, has been up front with Voorhees and shares her sense of responsibility.

“I mean, for people to say, ‘I can’t watch the news, I’m numb, I’m frustrated, I have to sing,’ it’s a great privilege to speak, because they can sing, because they’re safe,” Constantino said.

“I find it’s like a gateway drug,” he added, “because even people who have never done anything activist in their life end up in a protest and they’re motivated by the community and a sense of purpose and showing opposition, but also a love of democracy.”

For Voorhees, “democracy is a right,” and your participation is not limited to voting. He said: “You have to make sure they are doing the right things, and that requires paying attention and guiding them, if you will.

Voorhees told me that under President Obama, when drones were used to kill people overseas, he took to the streets in protest.

“I’m an equal opportunity activist, but I’ve never had someone in my life so determined to destroy democracy,” said Voorhees. “I called Reagan a traitor, and Reagan felt like a fascist until I met this man, the head of the fascist movement in this country.

I thought that the bombing of Iran by the first US president – who promised to end rather than start wars – was Trump’s way of projecting strength in a time of weakness. Most of the president’s true believers are applauding, but it seems nothing has been learned from past meddling in the Middle East that ended badly, and regardless of what’s next, Epic Fury may be followed by Epic Quagmire.

Voorhees insists that this was not just a show of force, but an act of disruption.

From the Epstein files, for example. From empty promises about lower prices for groceries and consumer goods, faltering consumer ratings, fears of midterm elections and the chaos created by tariffs that have cost American retailers millions of dollars and been declared illegal.

Voorhees is mad about all of that, but he makes a point to clarify.

He is not sad.

More than 200 people gathered and protested the US and Israeli war against Iran

“The arc of the universe bends toward justice,” Voorhees said, “but it doesn’t do it slowly. There are setbacks. Two steps forward, one step back. One step forward, three steps back. We’re in one of those times. … But we can prevail, and I believe in the long run we probably will.”

Minneapolis is a model, he said. When two innocent people were killed in immigration raids, the community rallied in an uproar, forcing Trump’s forces to retreat and sparking a national conversation about the brutal tactics.

“Minneapolis has gone against that in humanity, and that’s the future we want to build,” Voorhees said. “That’s the future that Martin Luther King Jr. always wanted. That’s that beloved community. That’s the ticket.”

Things will only change if we “get up off the couch,” said Voorhees, who attended another anti-war protest Saturday on the steps of City Hall with a sign that asked, “Who Can Jesus Blow Up?”

“You can move forward with a heavy heart and a depressed head, or you can dance forward with a smile and singing on your lips, holding hands with the people you care about. Everything kingdoms fall. Everything kings and oppressors fail in the end. Sometimes it’s fast. Sometimes it’s slow. But that day is coming and, as the Twin Cities prove, love is stronger than hate, if at all. “

steve.lopez@latimes.com